Colocated shared augmented reality without shared backend

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are disclosed for creating a shared augmented reality (AR) session. The methods and systems perform operations comprising: receiving, by a client device, input that selects a shared augmented reality (AR) experience from a plurality of shared AR experiences; in response to receiving the input, determining one or more resources associated with the selected shared AR experience; determining, by the client device, that two or more users are located within a threshold proximity of the client device; and activating the selected shared AR experience in response to determining that the two or more users are located within the threshold proximity of the client device.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/248,981, filed Feb. 16, 2021, which claims the benefit of priority toU.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/706,788, filed Sep. 10, 2020,each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to providing augmented realityexperiences using a messaging application.

BACKGROUND

Augmented-Reality (AR) is a modification of a virtual environment. Forexample, in Virtual Reality (VR), a user is completely immersed in avirtual world, whereas in AR, the user is immersed in a world wherevirtual objects are combined or superimposed on the real world. An ARsystem aims to generate and present virtual objects that interactrealistically with a real-world environment and with each other.Examples of AR applications can include single or multiple player videogames, instant messaging systems, and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numeralsmay describe similar components in different views. To easily identifythe discussion of any particular element or act, the most significantdigit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number inwhich that element is first introduced. Some nonlimiting examples areillustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a networked environment inwhich the present disclosure may be deployed, in accordance with someexamples.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a messaging clientapplication, in accordance with some examples.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation of a data structure asmaintained in a database, in accordance with some examples.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of a message, in accordance withsome examples.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 7, 8A, 8B, 9A and 9B are diagrammaticrepresentations of shared AR experiences, in accordance with someexamples.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating example operations of the messagingapplication server, according to examples.

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of acomputer system within which a set of instructions may be executed forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, in accordance with some examples.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a software architecture within whichexamples may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description that follows includes systems, methods, techniques,instruction sequences, and computing machine program products thatembody illustrative examples of the disclosure. In the followingdescription, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific detailsare set forth in order to provide an understanding of various examples.It will be evident, however, to those skilled in the art, that examplesmay be practiced without these specific details. In general, well-knowninstruction instances, protocols, structures, and techniques are notnecessarily shown in detail.

Among other things, examples of the present disclosure improve thefunctionality of an AR creation software and system by establishing acommon coordinate system for a shared AR session that is based onskeletal positions (e.g., of an object, such as a human body) andtracking. In some examples, the system hosts a shared AR session that isa session in which a plurality of users via client devices canparticipate. Each user in the shared AR session can see the same ARobjects positioned in the real-world scene from each user's ownperspective. The shared AR session can be, for example, an AR car racinggame in which each user is controlling a different car. Each of theusers are looking at the same shared AR scene that includes real-worldobjects being displayed on the client devices at the same time. A commonAR object or set of AR objects, such as AR cars, are displayed on eachof the client devices in the shared AR scene. This way, the users canview the AR scene from different orientations, positioning andperspectives while still seeing the common AR object or set of ARobjects. The experience can be synchronized and shared between all theusers. In this example, the actions of one user in the shared AR sessioncan be synchronized and broadcast to all the other users. Accordingly,the shared AR session is a shared virtual space but in AR. As anotherexample, two users can point their devices towards a real-world scenecontaining a table. The two users can be next to each other or acrossthe table from each other. An AR object, such as a virtual paper can beplaced on the real-world table and viewed by each of the users on theirrespective devices. As one user modifies the virtual paper by writing invirtual ink on the paper, the other user can see the virtual paper beingmodified at the same time.

The shared AR scene can be synchronized, in some cases, using predefinedmarkers. For example, one device can display a barcode or other suitablepredefined image for another device to scan and determine theappropriate transformation for the AR scene. Namely, the orientation ofa first device on which the marker is displayed when the marker isscanned by a second device can be used by the second device to determineinformation about the coordinate system of the first device. An exampleof such a system is described in further detail in commonly-owned,commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/729,078, filedDec. 27, 2019, which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

According to the disclosed examples, a plurality of shared ARexperiences or mobile applications are provided for supporting andencouraging co-located shared experiences from two or more users, eachof the plurality of shared AR experiences are configured to be operatedindependently of a server. Co-located shared experiences, according tosome implementations, requires that the two or more users be within athreshold proximity (e.g., less than 20 feet) of each other or a commonshared client device. One way in which the disclosed examples providesuch experiences involves connecting the AR experience to sharedphysical entities, such as sharing one device. This way, data does notneed to be communicated with or exchanged with a server in order toprovide a seamless and enjoyable shared AR experience between multipleusers. The disclosed examples focus on connecting users when they aretogether to encourage in-person social interaction without exchangingdata with a server. By removing communications with a server from theshared AR experiences, users are required to be together within athreshold proximity of each other to enjoy and use the shared ARexperiences.

In some cases, the shared AR experiences are disabled if the users aredetermined to be more than a threshold proximity of each other or acommon client device. The shared experiences include sharing a singledevice among a plurality of users, passing a single device between theplurality of users, and parallel use of the shared experience across aplurality of devices triggered by a shared marker from a third device.

Networked Computing Environment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system 100 forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network.The messaging system 100 includes multiple instances of a client device102, each of which hosts a number of applications, including a messagingclient 104 and other external applications 109 (e.g., third-partyapplications). Each messaging client 104 is communicatively coupled toother instances of the messaging client 104 (e.g., hosted on respectiveother client devices 102), a messaging server system 108 and externalapp(s) servers 110 via a network 112 (e.g., the Internet). A messagingclient 104 can also communicate with locally-hosted third-partyapplications 109 using Applications Program Interfaces (APIs).

A messaging client 104 is able to communicate and exchange data withother messaging clients 104 and with the messaging server system 108 viathe network 112. The data exchanged between messaging clients 104, andbetween a messaging client 104 and the messaging server system 108,includes functions (e.g., commands to invoke functions) as well aspayload data (e.g., text, audio, video or other multimedia data).

The messaging server system 108 provides server-side functionality viathe network 112 to a particular messaging client 104. While certainfunctions of the messaging system 100 are described herein as beingperformed by either a messaging client 104 or by the messaging serversystem 108, the location of certain functionality either within themessaging client 104 or the messaging server system 108 may be a designchoice. For example, it may be technically preferable to initiallydeploy certain technology and functionality within the messaging serversystem 108 but to later migrate this technology and functionality to themessaging client 104 where a client device 102 has sufficient processingcapacity.

The messaging server system 108 supports various services and operationsthat are provided to the messaging client 104. Such operations includetransmitting data to, receiving data from, and processing data generatedby the messaging client 104. This data may include message content,client device information, geolocation information, media augmentationand overlays, message content persistence conditions, social networkinformation, and live event information, as examples. Data exchangeswithin the messaging system 100 are invoked and controlled throughfunctions available via user interfaces (UIs) of the messaging client104.

Turning now specifically to the messaging server system 108, anApplication Program Interface (API) server 116 is coupled to, andprovides a programmatic interface to, application servers 114. Theapplication servers 114 are communicatively coupled to a database server120, which facilitates access to a database 126 that stores dataassociated with messages processed by the application servers 114.Similarly, a web server 128 is coupled to the application servers 114,and provides web-based interfaces to the application servers 114. Tothis end, the web server 128 processes incoming network requests overthe Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and several other relatedprotocols.

The Application Program Interface (API) server 116 receives andtransmits message data (e.g., commands and message payloads) between theclient device 102 and the application servers 114. Specifically, theApplication Program Interface (API) server 116 provides a set ofinterfaces (e.g., routines and protocols) that can be called or queriedby the messaging client 104 in order to invoke functionality of theapplication servers 114. The Application Program Interface (API) server116 exposes various functions supported by the application servers 114,including account registration, login functionality, the sending ofmessages, via the application servers 114, from a particular messagingclient 104 to another messaging client 104, the sending of media files(e.g., images or video) from a messaging client 104 to a messagingserver 118, and for possible access by another messaging client 104, thesettings of a collection of media data (e.g., story), the retrieval of alist of friends of a user of a client device 102, the retrieval of suchcollections, the retrieval of messages and content, the addition anddeletion of entities (e.g., friends) to an entity graph (e.g., a socialgraph), the location of friends within a social graph, and opening anapplication event (e.g., relating to the messaging client 104).

The application servers 114 host a number of server applications andsubsystems, including for example a messaging server 118, an imageprocessing server 122, and a social network server 124. The messagingserver 118 implements a number of message processing technologies andfunctions, particularly related to the aggregation and other processingof content (e.g., textual and multimedia content) included in messagesreceived from multiple instances of the messaging client 104. As will bedescribed in further detail, the text and media content from multiplesources may be aggregated into collections of content (e.g., calledstories or galleries). These collections are then made available to themessaging client 104. Other processor- and memory-intensive processingof data may also be performed server-side by the messaging server 118,in view of the hardware requirements for such processing.

The application servers 114 also include an image processing server 122that is dedicated to performing various image processing operations,typically with respect to images or video within the payload of amessage sent from or received at the messaging server 118.

Image processing server 122 is used to implement scan functionality ofthe augmentation system 208. Scan functionality includes activating andproviding one or more augmented reality experiences on a client device102 when an image is captured by the client device 102. Specifically,the messaging application 104 on the client device 102 can be used toactivate a camera. The camera displays one or more real-time images or avideo to a user along with one or more icons or identifiers of one ormore augmented reality experiences. The user can select a given one ofthe identifiers to launch the corresponding augmented realityexperience. Launching the augmented reality experience includesobtaining one or more augmented reality items associated with theaugmented reality experience and overlaying the augmented reality itemson top of the images or video being presented.

In some examples, the augmented reality items move around or track areal-world object that is depicted. For example, the augmented realityitems may be makeup items that are placed on a real-world face that isdepicted. As the face moves around, accelerometer and gyroscopic sensorsof the client device 102 provide measurements representing motion. Thisinformation is used to adjust positioning of the augmented reality itemsrelative to the face so that the augmented reality items track theposition of the face in 3D and maintain their placement on the face asthe face moves around. In some examples, the launch of the augmentedreality experience includes a preview of the augmented realityexperience. For example, the augmented reality experience may be arestricted access experience or premium experience that can be purchasedby the user (e.g., by exchanging a certain amount of virtual currency ortokens). When such an augmented reality experience is previewed, only asubset of the augmented reality items is presented on top of thereal-world object (e.g., the face), such as 2D images of the augmentedreality items. The 2D images do not track movement of the face andpositioning of the augmented reality items is not updated based onaccelerometer and gyroscopic sensors of the client device 102 thatprovide measurements representing motion. As such, while in one set offrames the augmented reality items are presented on the cheek of theface depicted in the images, when the user moves around, the augmentedreality items maintain the static position and are no longer presentedon the cheek (e.g., they may be presented on another real-world surfaceor another portion of the face) in a subsequent frame. Namely, theaugmented reality items are statically positioned and overlay whateverreal-world object appears in view at their static position in the video.In some cases, once the access restriction is removed from the givenaugmented reality experience, the preview of the experience is convertedto activation of the augmented reality experience in which the augmentedreality items track movement of a real-world object depicted in thevideo.

The social network server 124 supports various social networkingfunctions and services and makes these functions and services availableto the messaging server 118. To this end, the social network server 124maintains and accesses an entity graph 308 (as shown in FIG. 3 ) withinthe database 126. Examples of functions and services supported by thesocial network server 124 include the identification of other users ofthe messaging system 100 with which a particular user has relationshipsor is “following,” and also the identification of other entities andinterests of a particular user.

Returning to the messaging client 104, features and functions of anexternal resource (e.g., a third-party application 109 or applet) aremade available to a user via an interface of the messaging client 104.The messaging client 104 receives a user selection of an option tolaunch or access features of an external resource (e.g., a third-partyresource), such as external apps 109. The external resource may be athird-party application (external apps 109) installed on the clientdevice 102 (e.g., a “native app”), or a small-scale version of thethird-party application (e.g., an “applet”) that is hosted on the clientdevice 102 or remote of the client device 102 (e.g., on third-partyservers 110). The small-scale version of the third-party applicationincludes a subset of features and functions of the third-partyapplication (e.g., the full-scale, native version of the third-partystandalone application) and is implemented using a markup-languagedocument. In one example, the small-scale version of the third-partyapplication (e.g., an “applet”) is a web-based, markup-language versionof the third-party application and is embedded in the messaging client104. In addition to using markup-language documents (e.g., a .*ml file),an applet may incorporate a scripting language (e.g., a .*js file or a.json file) and a style sheet (e.g., a .*ss file).

In response to receiving a user selection of the option to launch oraccess features of the external resource (external app 109), themessaging client 104 determines whether the selected external resourceis a web-based external resource or a locally-installed externalapplication. In some cases, external applications 109 that are locallyinstalled on the client device 102 can be launched independently of andseparately from the messaging client 104, such as by selecting an icon,corresponding to the external application 109, on a home screen of theclient device 102. Small-scale versions of such external applicationscan be launched or accessed via the messaging client 104 and, in someexamples, no or limited portions of the small-scale external applicationcan be accessed outside of the messaging client 104. The small-scaleexternal application can be launched by the messaging client 104receiving, from a external app(s) server 110, a markup-language documentassociated with the small-scale external application and processing sucha document.

In response to determining that the external resource is alocally-installed external application 109, the messaging client 104instructs the client device 102 to launch the external application 109by executing locally-stored code corresponding to the externalapplication 109. In response to determining that the external resourceis a web-based resource, the messaging client 104 communicates with theexternal app(s) servers 110 to obtain a markup-language documentcorresponding to the selected resource. The messaging client 104 thenprocesses the obtained markup-language document to present the web-basedexternal resource within a user interface of the messaging client 104.

The messaging client 104 can notify a user of the client device 102, orother users related to such a user (e.g., “friends”), of activity takingplace in one or more external resources. For example, the messagingclient 104 can provide participants in a conversation (e.g., a chatsession) in the messaging client 104 with notifications relating to thecurrent or recent use of an external resource by one or more members ofa group of users. One or more users can be invited to join in an activeexternal resource or to launch a recently-used but currently inactive(in the group of friends) external resource. The external resource canprovide participants in a conversation, each using a respectivemessaging client messaging clients 104, with the ability to share anitem, status, state, or location in an external resource with one ormore members of a group of users into a chat session. The shared itemmay be an interactive chat card with which members of the chat caninteract, for example, to launch the corresponding external resource,view specific information within the external resource, or take themember of the chat to a specific location or state within the externalresource. Within a given external resource, response messages can besent to users on the messaging client 104. The external resource canselectively include different media items in the responses, based on acurrent context of the external resource.

The messaging client 104 can present a list of the available externalresources (e.g., third-party or external applications 109 or applets) toa user to launch or access a given external resource. This list can bepresented in a context-sensitive menu. For example, the iconsrepresenting different ones of the external application 109 (or applets)can vary based on how the menu is launched by the user (e.g., from aconversation interface or from a non-conversation interface).

System Architecture

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating further details regarding themessaging system 100, according to some examples. Specifically, themessaging system 100 is shown to comprise the messaging client 104 andthe application servers 114. The messaging system 100 embodies a numberof subsystems, which are supported on the client side by the messagingclient 104 and on the sever side by the application servers 114. Thesesubsystems include, for example, an ephemeral timer system 202, acollection management system 204, an augmentation system 208, a mapsystem 210, a game system 212, and an external resource system 220.

The ephemeral timer system 202 is responsible for enforcing thetemporary or time-limited access to content by the messaging client 104and the messaging server 118. The ephemeral timer system 202incorporates a number of timers that, based on duration and displayparameters associated with a message, or collection of messages (e.g., astory), selectively enable access (e.g., for presentation and display)to messages and associated content via the messaging client 104. Furtherdetails regarding the operation of the ephemeral timer system 202 areprovided below.

The collection management system 204 is responsible for managing sets orcollections of media (e.g., collections of text, image video, and audiodata). A collection of content (e.g., messages, including images, video,text, and audio) may be organized into an “event gallery” or an “eventstory.” Such a collection may be made available for a specified timeperiod, such as the duration of an event to which the content relates.For example, content relating to a music concert may be made availableas a “story” for the duration of that music concert. The collectionmanagement system 204 may also be responsible for publishing an iconthat provides notification of the existence of a particular collectionto the user interface of the messaging client 104.

The collection management system 204 furthermore includes a curationinterface 206 that allows a collection manager to manage and curate aparticular collection of content. For example, the curation interface206 enables an event organizer to curate a collection of contentrelating to a specific event (e.g., delete inappropriate content orredundant messages). Additionally, the collection management system 204employs machine vision (or image recognition technology) and contentrules to automatically curate a content collection. In certain examples,compensation may be paid to a user for the inclusion of user-generatedcontent into a collection. In such cases, the collection managementsystem 204 operates to automatically make payments to such users for theuse of their content.

The augmentation system 208 provides various functions that enable auser to augment (e.g., annotate or otherwise modify or edit) mediacontent associated with a message. For example, the augmentation system208 provides functions related to the generation and publishing of mediaoverlays for messages processed by the messaging system 100. Theaugmentation system 208 operatively supplies a media overlay oraugmentation (e.g., an image filter) to the messaging client 104 basedon a geolocation of the client device 102. In another example, theaugmentation system 208 operatively supplies a media overlay to themessaging client 104 based on other information, such as social networkinformation of the user of the client device 102. A media overlay mayinclude audio and visual content and visual effects. Examples of audioand visual content include pictures, texts, logos, animations, and soundeffects. An example of a visual effect includes color overlaying. Theaudio and visual content or the visual effects can be applied to a mediacontent item (e.g., a photo) at the client device 102. For example, themedia overlay may include text, a graphical element, or image that canbe overlaid on top of a photograph taken by the client device 102. Inanother example, the media overlay includes an identification of alocation overlay (e.g., Venice beach), a name of a live event, or a nameof a merchant overlay (e.g., Beach Coffee House). In another example,the augmentation system 208 uses the geolocation of the client device102 to identify a media overlay that includes the name of a merchant atthe geolocation of the client device 102. The media overlay may includeother indicia associated with the merchant. The media overlays may bestored in the database 126 and accessed through the database server 120.

In some examples, the augmentation system 208 provides a user-basedpublication platform that enables users to select a geolocation on a mapand upload content associated with the selected geolocation. The usermay also specify circumstances under which a particular media overlayshould be offered to other users. The augmentation system 208 generatesa media overlay that includes the uploaded content and associates theuploaded content with the selected geolocation.

In other examples, the augmentation system 208 provides a merchant-basedpublication platform that enables merchants to select a particular mediaoverlay associated with a geolocation via a bidding process. Forexample, the augmentation system 208 associates the media overlay of thehighest bidding merchant with a corresponding geolocation for apredefined amount of time. The augmentation system 208 communicates withthe image processing server 122 to obtain augmented reality experiencesand presents identifiers of such experiences in one or more userinterfaces (e.g., as icons over a real-time image or video or asthumbnails or icons in interfaces dedicated for presented identifiers ofaugmented reality experiences). Once an augmented reality experience isselected, one or more images, videos, or augmented reality graphicalelements are retrieved and presented as an overlay on top of the imagesor video captured by the client device 102. In some cases, the camera isswitched to a front-facing view (e.g., the front-facing camera of theclient device 102 is activated in response to activation of a particularaugmented reality experience) and the images from the front-facingcamera of the client device 102 start being displayed on the clientdevice 102 instead of the rear-facing camera of the client device 102.The one or more images, videos, or augmented reality graphical elementsare retrieved and presented as an overlay on top of the images that arecaptured and displayed by the front-facing camera of the client device102.

In other examples, the augmentation system 208 is able to communicateand exchange data with another augmentation system 208 on another clientdevice 102 and with the server via the network 106. The data exchangedcan include a session identifier that identifies the shared AR session,a transformation between a first client device 102 and a second clientdevice 102 (e.g., a plurality of client devices 102 include the firstand second devices) that is used to align the shared AR session to acommon point of origin, a common coordinate frame, functions (e.g.,commands to invoke functions) as well as other payload data (e.g., text,audio, video or other multimedia data).

The augmentation system 208 sends the transformation to the secondclient device 102 so that the second client device 102 can adjust the ARcoordinate system based on the transformation. In this way, the firstand second client devices 102 synch up their coordinate systems andframes for displaying content in the AR session. Specifically, theaugmentation system 208 computes the point of origin of the secondclient device 102 in the coordinate system of the first client device102. The augmentation system 208 can then determine an offset in thecoordinate system of the second client device 102 based on the positionof the point of origin from the perspective of the second client device102 in the coordinate system of the second client device 102. Thisoffset is used to generate the transformation so that the second clientdevice 102 generates AR content in according to a common coordinatesystem or frame as the first client device 102.

The augmentation system 208 that can communicate with the client device102 to establish individual or shared AR sessions. The augmentationsystem 208 can also be coupled to the messaging server 118 to establishan electronic group communication session (e.g., group chat, instantmessaging) for the client devices 102 in a shared AR session. Theelectronic group communication session can be associated with a sessionidentifier provided by the client devices 102 to gain access to theelectronic group communication session and to the shared AR session. Inone example, the client devices 102 first gain access to the electronicgroup communication session and then obtain the session identifier inthe electronic group communication session that allows the clientdevices 102 to access to the shared AR session. In some examples, theclient devices 102 are able to access the shared AR session without aidor communication with the augmentation system 208 in the applicationservers 114.

The map system 210 provides various geographic location functions, andsupports the presentation of map-based media content and messages by themessaging client 104. For example, the map system 210 enables thedisplay of user icons or avatars (e.g., stored in profile data 316) on amap to indicate a current or past location of “friends” of a user, aswell as media content (e.g., collections of messages includingphotographs and videos) generated by such friends, within the context ofa map. For example, a message posted by a user to the messaging system100 from a specific geographic location may be displayed within thecontext of a map at that particular location to “friends” of a specificuser on a map interface of the messaging client 104. A user canfurthermore share his or her location and status information (e.g.,using an appropriate status avatar) with other users of the messagingsystem 100 via the messaging client 104, with this location and statusinformation being similarly displayed within the context of a mapinterface of the messaging client 104 to selected users.

The game system 212 provides various gaming functions within the contextof the messaging client 104. The messaging client 104 provides a gameinterface providing a list of available games (e.g., web-based games orweb-based applications) that can be launched by a user within thecontext of the messaging client 104, and played with other users of themessaging system 100. The messaging system 100 further enables aparticular user to invite other users to participate in the play of aspecific game, by issuing invitations to such other users from themessaging client 104. The messaging client 104 also supports both voiceand text messaging (e.g., chats) within the context of gameplay,provides a leaderboard for the games, and also supports the provision ofin-game rewards (e.g., coins and items).

The external resource system 220 provides an interface for the messagingclient 104 to communicate with external app(s) servers 110 to launch oraccess external resources. Each external resource (apps) server 110hosts, for example, a markup language (e.g., HTML5) based application orsmall-scale version of an external application (e.g., game, utility,payment, or ride-sharing application that is external to the messagingclient 104). The messaging client 104 may launch a web-based resource(e.g., application) by accessing the HTML5 file from the externalresource (apps) servers 110 associated with the web-based resource. Incertain examples, applications hosted by external resource servers 110are programmed in JavaScript leveraging a Software Development Kit (SDK)provided by the messaging server 118. The SDK includes ApplicationProgramming Interfaces (APIs) with functions that can be called orinvoked by the web-based application. In certain examples, the messagingserver 118 includes a JavaScript library that provides a giventhird-party resource access to certain user data of the messaging client104. HTML5 is used as an example technology for programming games, butapplications and resources programmed based on other technologies can beused.

In order to integrate the functions of the SDK into the web-basedresource, the SDK is downloaded by an external resource (apps) server110 from the messaging server 118 or is otherwise received by theexternal resource (apps) server 110. Once downloaded or received, theSDK is included as part of the application code of a web-based externalresource. The code of the web-based resource can then call or invokecertain functions of the SDK to integrate features of the messagingclient 104 into the web-based resource.

The SDK stored on the messaging server 118 effectively provides thebridge between an external resource (e.g., third-party or externalapplications 109 or applets and the messaging client 104). This providesthe user with a seamless experience of communicating with other users onthe messaging client 104, while also preserving the look and feel of themessaging client 104. To bridge communications between an externalresource and a messaging client 104, in certain examples, the SDKfacilitates communication between external resource servers 110 and themessaging client 104. In certain examples, a Web ViewJavaScriptBridgerunning on a client device 102 establishes two one-way communicationchannels between a external resource and the messaging client 104.Messages are sent between the external resource and the messaging client104 via these communication channels asynchronously. Each SDK functioninvocation is sent as a message and callback. Each SDK function isimplemented by constructing a unique callback identifier and sending amessage with that callback identifier.

By using the SDK, not all information from the messaging client 104 isshared with external resource servers 110. The SDK limits whichinformation is shared based on the needs of the external resource. Incertain examples, each external resource server 110 provides an HTML5file corresponding to the web-based external resource to the messagingserver 118. The messaging server 118 can add a visual representation(such as a box art or other graphic) of the web-based external resourcein the messaging client 104. Once the user selects the visualrepresentation or instructs the messaging client 104 through a GUI ofthe messaging client 104 to access features of the web-based externalresource, the messaging client 104 obtains the HTML5 file andinstantiates the resources necessary to access the features of theweb-based external resource.

The messaging client 104 presents a graphical user interface (e.g., alanding page or title screen) for an external resource. During, before,or after presenting the landing page or title screen, the messagingclient 104 determines whether the launched external resource has beenpreviously authorized to access user data of the messaging client 104.In response to determining that the launched external resource has beenpreviously authorized to access user data of the messaging client 104,the messaging client 104 presents another graphical user interface ofthe external resource that includes functions and features of theexternal resource. In response to determining that the launched externalresource has not been previously authorized to access user data of themessaging client 104, after a threshold period of time (e.g., 3 seconds)of displaying the landing page or title screen of the external resource,the messaging client 104 slides up (e.g., animates a menu as surfacingfrom a bottom of the screen to a middle of or other portion of thescreen) a menu for authorizing the external resource to access the userdata. The menu identifies the type of user data that the externalresource will be authorized to use. In response to receiving a userselection of an accept option, the messaging client 104 adds theexternal resource to a list of authorized external resources and allowsthe external resource to access user data from the messaging client 104.In some examples, the external resource is authorized by the messagingclient 104 to access the user data in accordance with an OAuth 2framework.

The messaging client 104 controls the type of user data that is sharedwith external resources based on the type of external resource beingauthorized. For example, external resources that include full-scaleexternal applications (e.g., a third-party or external application 109)are provided with access to a first type of user data (e.g., onlytwo-dimensional avatars of users with or without different avatarcharacteristics). As another example, external resources that includesmall-scale versions of external applications (e.g., web-based versionsof third-party applications) are provided with access to a second typeof user data (e.g., payment information, two-dimensional avatars ofusers, three-dimensional avatars of users, and avatars with variousavatar characteristics). Avatar characteristics include different waysto customize a look and feel of an avatar, such as different poses,facial features, clothing, and so forth.

Data Architecture

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating data structures 300, whichmay be stored in the database 126 of the messaging server system 108,according to certain examples. While the content of the database 126 isshown to comprise a number of tables, it will be appreciated that thedata could be stored in other types of data structures (e.g., as anobject-oriented database).

The database 126 includes message data stored within a message table302. This message data includes, for any particular one message, atleast message sender data, message recipient (or receiver) data, and apayload. Further details regarding information that may be included in amessage, and included within the message data stored in the messagetable 302, is described below with reference to FIG. 4 .

An entity table 306 stores entity data, and is linked (e.g.,referentially) to an entity graph 308 and profile data 316. Entities forwhich records are maintained within the entity table 306 may includeindividuals, corporate entities, organizations, objects, places, events,and so forth. Regardless of entity type, any entity regarding which themessaging server system 108 stores data may be a recognized entity. Eachentity is provided with a unique identifier, as well as an entity typeidentifier (not shown).

The entity graph 308 stores information regarding relationships andassociations between entities. Such relationships may be social,professional (e.g., work at a common corporation or organization)interested-based or activity-based, merely for example.

The profile data 316 stores multiple types of profile data about aparticular entity. The profile data 316 may be selectively used andpresented to other users of the messaging system 100, based on privacysettings specified by a particular entity. Where the entity is anindividual, the profile data 316 includes, for example, a user name,telephone number, address, settings (e.g., notification and privacysettings), as well as a user-selected avatar representation (orcollection of such avatar representations). A particular user may thenselectively include one or more of these avatar representations withinthe content of messages communicated via the messaging system 100, andon map interfaces displayed by messaging clients 104 to other users. Thecollection of avatar representations may include “status avatars,” whichpresent a graphical representation of a status or activity that the usermay select to communicate at a particular time.

Where the entity is a group, the profile data 316 for the group maysimilarly include one or more avatar representations associated with thegroup, in addition to the group name, members, and various settings(e.g., notifications) for the relevant group.

The database 126 also stores augmentation data, such as overlays orfilters, in an augmentation table 310. The augmentation data isassociated with and applied to videos (for which data is stored in avideo table 304) and images (for which data is stored in an image table312).

The database 126 can also store data pertaining to individual and sharedAR sessions. This data can include data communicated between an ARsession client controller of a first client device 102 and another ARsession client controller of a second client device 102, and datacommunicated between the AR session client controller and theaugmentation system 208. Data can include data used to establish thecommon coordinate frame of the shared AR scene, the transformationbetween the devices, the session identifier, images depicting a body,skeletal joint positions, wrist joint positions, feet, and so forth.

Filters, in one example, are overlays that are displayed as overlaid onan image or video during presentation to a recipient user. Filters maybe of various types, including user-selected filters from a set offilters presented to a sending user by the messaging client 104 when thesending user is composing a message. Other types of filters includegeolocation filters (also known as geo-filters), which may be presentedto a sending user based on geographic location. For example, geolocationfilters specific to a neighborhood or special location may be presentedwithin a user interface by the messaging client 104, based ongeolocation information determined by a Global Positioning System (GPS)unit of the client device 102.

Another type of filter is a data filter, which may be selectivelypresented to a sending user by the messaging client 104, based on otherinputs or information gathered by the client device 102 during themessage creation process. Examples of data filters include currenttemperature at a specific location, a current speed at which a sendinguser is traveling, battery life for a client device 102, or the currenttime.

Other augmentation data that may be stored within the image table 312includes augmented reality content items (e.g., corresponding toapplying augmented reality experiences). An augmented reality contentitem or augmented reality item may be a real-time special effect andsound that may be added to an image or a video.

As described above, augmentation data includes augmented reality contentitems, overlays, image transformations, AR images, and similar termsthat refer to modifications that may be applied to image data (e.g.,videos or images). This includes real-time modifications, which modifyan image as it is captured using device sensors (e.g., one or multiplecameras) of a client device 102 and then displayed on a screen of theclient device 102 with the modifications. This also includesmodifications to stored content, such as video clips in a gallery thatmay be modified. For example, in a client device 102 with access tomultiple augmented reality content items, a user can use a single videoclip with multiple augmented reality content items to see how thedifferent augmented reality content items will modify the stored clip.For example, multiple augmented reality content items that applydifferent pseudorandom movement models can be applied to the samecontent by selecting different augmented reality content items for thecontent. Similarly, real-time video capture may be used with anillustrated modification to show how video images currently beingcaptured by sensors of a client device 102 would modify the captureddata. Such data may simply be displayed on the screen and not stored inmemory, or the content captured by the device sensors may be recordedand stored in memory with or without the modifications (or both). Insome systems, a preview feature can show how different augmented realitycontent items will look within different windows in a display at thesame time. This can, for example, enable multiple windows with differentpseudorandom animations to be viewed on a display at the same time.

Data and various systems using augmented reality content items or othersuch transform systems to modify content using this data can thusinvolve detection of objects (e.g., faces, hands, bodies, cats, dogs,surfaces, objects, etc.), tracking of such objects as they leave, enter,and move around the field of view in video frames, and the modificationor transformation of such objects as they are tracked. In variousexamples, different methods for achieving such transformations may beused. Some examples may involve generating a three-dimensional meshmodel of the object or objects, and using transformations and animatedtextures of the model within the video to achieve the transformation. Inother examples, tracking of points on an object may be used to place animage or texture (which may be two dimensional or three dimensional) atthe tracked position. In still further examples, neural network analysisof video frames may be used to place images, models, or textures incontent (e.g., images or frames of video). Augmented reality contentitems thus refer both to the images, models, and textures used to createtransformations in content, as well as to additional modeling andanalysis information needed to achieve such transformations with objectdetection, tracking, and placement.

Real-time video processing can be performed with any kind of video data(e.g., video streams, video files, etc.) saved in a memory of acomputerized system of any kind. For example, a user can load videofiles and save them in a memory of a device, or can generate a videostream using sensors of the device. Additionally, any objects can beprocessed using a computer animation model, such as a human's face andparts of a human body, animals, or non-living things such as chairs,cars, or other objects.

In some examples, when a particular modification is selected along withcontent to be transformed, elements to be transformed are identified bythe computing device, and then detected and tracked if they are presentin the frames of the video. The elements of the object are modifiedaccording to the request for modification, thus transforming the framesof the video stream. Transformation of frames of a video stream can beperformed by different methods for different kinds of transformation.For example, for transformations of frames mostly referring to changingforms of object's elements, characteristic points for each element of anobject are calculated (e.g., using an Active Shape Model (ASM) or otherknown methods). Then, a mesh based on the characteristic points isgenerated for each of the at least one element of the object. This meshis used in the following stage of tracking the elements of the object inthe video stream. In the process of tracking, the mentioned mesh foreach element is aligned with a position of each element. Then,additional points are generated on the mesh. A first set of first pointsis generated for each element based on a request for modification, and aset of second points is generated for each element based on the set offirst points and the request for modification. Then, the frames of thevideo stream can be transformed by modifying the elements of the objecton the basis of the sets of first and second points and the mesh. Insuch method, a background of the modified object can be changed ordistorted as well by tracking and modifying the background.

In some examples, transformations changing some areas of an object usingits elements can be performed by calculating characteristic points foreach element of an object and generating a mesh based on the calculatedcharacteristic points. Points are generated on the mesh, and thenvarious areas based on the points are generated. The elements of theobject are then tracked by aligning the area for each element with aposition for each of the at least one element, and properties of theareas can be modified based on the request for modification, thustransforming the frames of the video stream. Depending on the specificrequest for modification, properties of the mentioned areas can betransformed in different ways. Such modifications may involve changingcolor of areas; removing at least some part of areas from the frames ofthe video stream; including one or more new objects into areas which arebased on a request for modification; and modifying or distorting theelements of an area or object. In various examples, any combination ofsuch modifications or other similar modifications may be used. Forcertain models to be animated, some characteristic points can beselected as control points to be used in determining the entirestate-space of options for the model animation.

In some examples of a computer animation model to transform image datausing face detection, the face is detected on an image with use of aspecific face detection algorithm (e.g., Viola-Jones). Then, an ActiveShape Model (ASM) algorithm is applied to the face region of an image todetect facial feature reference points.

Other methods and algorithms suitable for face detection can be used.For example, in some examples, features are located using a landmark,which represents a distinguishable point present in most of the imagesunder consideration. For facial landmarks, for example, the location ofthe left eye pupil may be used. If an initial landmark is notidentifiable (e.g., if a person has an eyepatch), secondary landmarksmay be used. Such landmark identification procedures may be used for anysuch objects. In some examples, a set of landmarks forms a shape. Shapescan be represented as vectors using the coordinates of the points in theshape. One shape is aligned to another with a similarity transform(allowing translation, scaling, and rotation) that minimizes the averageEuclidean distance between shape points. The mean shape is the mean ofthe aligned training shapes.

In some examples, a search for landmarks from the mean shape aligned tothe position and size of the face determined by a global face detectoris started. Such a search then repeats the steps of suggesting atentative shape by adjusting the locations of shape points by templatematching of the image texture around each point and then conforming thetentative shape to a global shape model until convergence occurs. Insome systems, individual template matches are unreliable, and the shapemodel pools the results of the weak template matches to form a strongeroverall classifier. The entire search is repeated at each level in animage pyramid, from coarse to fine resolution.

A transformation system can capture an image or video stream on a clientdevice (e.g., the client device 102) and perform complex imagemanipulations locally on the client device 102 while maintaining asuitable user experience, computation time, and power consumption. Thecomplex image manipulations may include size and shape changes, emotiontransfers (e.g., changing a face from a frown to a smile), statetransfers (e.g., aging a subject, reducing apparent age, changinggender), style transfers, graphical element application, and any othersuitable image or video manipulation implemented by a convolutionalneural network that has been configured to execute efficiently on theclient device 102.

In some examples, a computer animation model to transform image data canbe used by a system where a user may capture an image or video stream ofthe user (e.g., a selfie) using a client device 102 having a neuralnetwork operating as part of a messaging client 104 operating on theclient device 102. The transformation system operating within themessaging client 104 determines the presence of a face within the imageor video stream and provides modification icons associated with acomputer animation model to transform image data, or the computeranimation model can be present as associated with an interface describedherein. The modification icons include changes that may be the basis formodifying the user's face within the image or video stream as part ofthe modification operation. Once a modification icon is selected, thetransformation system initiates a process to convert the image of theuser to reflect the selected modification icon (e.g., generate a smilingface on the user). A modified image or video stream may be presented ina graphical user interface displayed on the client device 102 as soon asthe image or video stream is captured, and a specified modification isselected. The transformation system may implement a complexconvolutional neural network on a portion of the image or video streamto generate and apply the selected modification. That is, the user maycapture the image or video stream and be presented with a modifiedresult in real-time or near real-time once a modification icon has beenselected. Further, the modification may be persistent while the videostream is being captured, and the selected modification icon remainstoggled. Machine-taught neural networks may be used to enable suchmodifications.

The graphical user interface, presenting the modification performed bythe transformation system, may supply the user with additionalinteraction options. Such options may be based on the interface used toinitiate the content capture and selection of a particular computeranimation model (e.g., initiation from a content creator userinterface). In various examples, a modification may be persistent afteran initial selection of a modification icon. The user may toggle themodification on or off by tapping or otherwise selecting the face beingmodified by the transformation system and store it for later viewing orbrowse to other areas of the imaging application. Where multiple facesare modified by the transformation system, the user may toggle themodification on or off globally by tapping or selecting a single facemodified and displayed within a graphical user interface. In someexamples, individual faces, among a group of multiple faces, may beindividually modified, or such modifications may be individually toggledby tapping or selecting the individual face or a series of individualfaces displayed within the graphical user interface.

A story table 314 stores data regarding collections of messages andassociated image, video, or audio data, which are compiled into acollection (e.g., a story or a gallery). The creation of a particularcollection may be initiated by a particular user (e.g., each user forwhich a record is maintained in the entity table 306). A user may createa “personal story” in the form of a collection of content that has beencreated and sent/broadcast by that user. To this end, the user interfaceof the messaging client 104 may include an icon that is user-selectableto enable a sending user to add specific content to his or her personalstory.

A collection may also constitute a “live story,” which is a collectionof content from multiple users that is created manually, automatically,or using a combination of manual and automatic techniques. For example,a “live story” may constitute a curated stream of user-submitted contentfrom various locations and events. Users whose client devices havelocation services enabled and are at a common location event at aparticular time may, for example, be presented with an option, via auser interface of the messaging client 104, to contribute content to aparticular live story. The live story may be identified to the user bythe messaging client 104, based on his or her location. The end resultis a “live story” told from a community perspective.

A further type of content collection is known as a “location story,”which enables a user whose client device 102 is located within aspecific geographic location (e.g., on a college or university campus)to contribute to a particular collection. In some examples, acontribution to a location story may require a second degree ofauthentication to verify that the end user belongs to a specificorganization or other entity (e.g., is a student on the universitycampus).

As mentioned above, the video table 304 stores video data that, in oneexample, is associated with messages for which records are maintainedwithin the message table 302. Similarly, the image table 312 storesimage data associated with messages for which message data is stored inthe entity table 306. The entity table 306 may associate variousaugmentations from the augmentation table 310 with various images andvideos stored in the image table 312 and the video table 304.

Data Communications Architecture

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure of a message 400,according to some examples, generated by a messaging client 104 forcommunication to a further messaging client 104 or the messaging server118. The content of a particular message 400 is used to populate themessage table 302 stored within the database 126, accessible by themessaging server 118. Similarly, the content of a message 400 is storedin memory as “in-transit” or “in-flight” data of the client device 102or the application servers 114. A message 400 is shown to include thefollowing example components:

-   -   message identifier 402: a unique identifier that identifies the        message 400.    -   message text payload 404: text, to be generated by a user via a        user interface of the client device 102, and that is included in        the message 400.    -   message image payload 406: image data, captured by a camera        component of a client device 102 or retrieved from a memory        component of a client device 102, and that is included in the        message 400. Image data for a sent or received message 400 may        be stored in the image table 312.    -   message video payload 408: video data, captured by a camera        component or retrieved from a memory component of the client        device 102, and that is included in the message 400. Video data        for a sent or received message 400 may be stored in the video        table 304.    -   message audio payload 410: audio data, captured by a microphone        or retrieved from a memory component of the client device 102,        and that is included in the message 400.    -   message augmentation data 412: augmentation data (e.g., filters,        stickers, or other annotations or enhancements) that represents        augmentations to be applied to message image payload 406,        message video payload 408, or message audio payload 410 of the        message 400. Augmentation data for a sent or received message        400 may be stored in the augmentation table 310.    -   message duration parameter 414: parameter value indicating, in        seconds, the amount of time for which content of the message        (e.g., the message image payload 406, message video payload 408,        message audio payload 410) is to be presented or made accessible        to a user via the messaging client 104.    -   message geolocation parameter 416: geolocation data (e.g.,        latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates) associated with the        content payload of the message. Multiple message geolocation        parameter 416 values may be included in the payload, each of        these parameter values being associated with respect to content        items included in the content (e.g., a specific image within the        message image payload 406, or a specific video in the message        video payload 408).    -   message story identifier 418: identifier values identifying one        or more content collections (e.g., “stories” identified in the        story table 314) with which a particular content item in the        message image payload 406 of the message 400 is associated. For        example, multiple images within the message image payload 406        may each be associated with multiple content collections using        identifier values.    -   message tag 420: each message 400 may be tagged with multiple        tags, each of which is indicative of the subject matter of        content included in the message payload. For example, where a        particular image included in the message image payload 406        depicts an animal (e.g., a lion), a tag value may be included        within the message tag 420 that is indicative of the relevant        animal. Tag values may be generated manually, based on user        input, or may be automatically generated using, for example,        image recognition.    -   message sender identifier 422: an identifier (e.g., a messaging        system identifier, email address, or device identifier)        indicative of a user of the client device 102 on which the        message 400 was generated and from which the message 400 was        sent.    -   message receiver identifier 424: an identifier (e.g., a        messaging system identifier, email address, or device        identifier) indicative of a user of the client device 102 to        which the message 400 is addressed.

The contents (e.g., values) of the various components of message 400 maybe pointers to locations in tables within which content data values arestored. For example, an image value in the message image payload 406 maybe a pointer to (or address of) a location within an image table 312.Similarly, values within the message video payload 408 may point to datastored within a video table 304, values stored within the messageaugmentation data 412 may point to data stored in an augmentation table310, values stored within the message story identifier 418 may point todata stored in a story table 314, and values stored within the messagesender identifier 422 and the message receiver identifier 424 may pointto user records stored within an entity table 306.

The disclosed examples discuss various types of shared experiences. Onetype of shared AR experience for co-located users includes a directingshared AR experience. Such an experience involves an egg hunt, scavengerhunt, hot/cold item, land/sea game, and Simon says. Another type ofshared AR experience for co-located users includes a sharing with petsAR experience. Such an experience involves walking, playing, petting ortraining a pet, such as a dog. Another type of shared AR experience forco-located users includes a collective storytelling experience. Such anexperience involves reading books and comics and making up stories.Another type of shared AR experience for co-located users includes achasing AR experience. Such an experience involves laser tag, tag, youare it game, sharks and minnows, and the like. Another type of shared ARexperience for co-located users includes a synchronizing AR experience.Such an experience involves couples' challenges, guitar hero, anddancing. Another type of shared AR experience for co-located usersincludes a passing an object AR experience. Another type of shared ARexperience for co-located users includes a creating together ARexperience, such as cooking together. Another type of shared ARexperience for co-located users can include a performing together ARexperience, such as taking a group picture. Another type of shared ARexperience for co-located users can include a gathering around ARexperience, such as playing a board game. Another type of shared ARexperience for co-located users can include a gifting AR experience,such as a birthday present and placing notes on a fridge.

In some examples, augmented graphical elements that modify a real-timevideo feed are used to create the shared AR experiences. Such augmentedgraphical elements use publicly available features and may not rely on ashared backend server.

In some examples, a first shared AR experience is selected from aplurality of shared AR experiences. The shared AR experience that isselected includes a passing an object experience. In this case, theshared AR experience allows a group of two or more users to pass anobject, such as a client device 102, between each of the users. Eachuser takes a turn holding the client device 102 so that the clientdevice 102 is accessed by the users one-at-a-time.

FIGS. 5A and 5B show an example of a first shared device AR experience500, according to some examples, in which users take turns holding aclient device to share an AR experience. Specifically, as shown in FIG.5A, multiple users 590 are within a specified proximity of each other(e.g., within the same room or within less than 15 feet of each other).The users 590 are sharing a single client device 592. Namely, as shownin FIG. 5A, the single client device 592 is being passed aroundphysically from one user to another user to share the AR experience.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, a first user holds the client device102 while a front-facing camera of the client device 102 is activated.When the face of the first user 594 is recognized or when the first user594 performs a suitable action, such as a gesture, the client device 102presents a first user interface 510. The first user interface 510instructs the first user 594 to complete a task, such as to make a faceor a gesture while a group timer 514 is presented on the first userinterface 510. The first user interface 510 includes a task timer 512(individual timer). The task timer 512 is of a shorter duration than thegroup timer 514. Namely, the group timer 514 is of a long enoughduration (e.g., 3 minutes) to allow multiple users 590 to performmultiple tasks. The task timer 512 is of a long enough duration (e.g.,20 seconds) to allow a single user to perform a particular task.

After the client device 102 detects that the first user 594 correctlycompleted the task by processing a video feed of the front-facingcamera, a checkmark 516 is presented and a second graphical userinterface 520 is presented. The group timer 514 continues counting downfrom when the first user 594 correctly competed the task and instructsthe first user 594 to pass the client device 102 to a second user 596 ina third user interface 530. In another example, the group timer 514 ispaused when the first user completes the task correctly. After the grouptimer 514 is paused, the third user interface 530 is presented promptingthe first user to pass the client device 102 to the second user 596.

Upon detecting the face of the second user 596 in the video feed of thefront-facing camera or when input is received from the second user 596to continue the shared AR experience, the client device 102 presents afourth user interface 540 to the second user 596 and instructs thesecond user 596 to perform another task. The group timer 514 may beun-paused or may continue counting while the second user 596 performsthe another task. The fourth user interface 540 shows the second user596 the current group timer 514 and a task timer indicating how muchtime is left for all of the users 590 to complete the tasks they arerespectively presented with and how much time the second user 596 hasleft to complete the specified task. After the second user 596 completesthe specified task, the second user 596 is instructed to pass the clientdevice 102 back to the first user 594 or to a third user who isco-located (e.g., within the same room or a specified distance, such asless than 15 feet) with the first and second users 594 and 596.

When the group timer 514 finishes counting down (expires), the user whois currently holding the client device 102 and who has not yet competedthe specified task is indicated to be the user who lost the game. Acamera (e.g., a front-facing camera) automatically captures an image ofthe losing user when the group timer 514 reaches the threshold value(e.g., when the group timer finishes counting down or expires). Theclient device 102 then automatically sends the captured image to all ofthe users who were involved in the shared device AR experience. In somecases, the difficulty of the task that needs to be performed increasesas the timer counts down and as different users continue performing thetask with the shared client device 102.

In some cases, when the task timer 512 finishes counting down (expires)before the group timer 514 finishes counting down, the user who iscurrently holding the client device 102 and who has not yet competed thespecified task is indicated to be the user who lost the game. A camera(e.g., a front-facing camera) automatically captures an image of thelosing user when the task timer 512 reaches the threshold value (e.g.,when the individual timer finishes counting down). The client device 102then automatically sends the captured image to all of the users who wereinvolved in the shared device AR experience.

In some cases, the user who loses the game (e.g., because that user wasthe last user holding the client device 102 when the group timer 514finished counting (expires) or the user did not complete the task beforethe task timer 512 finished counting) is removed from the game. Theremaining users continue playing until one user remains in the game,where each of the remaining users lose the game one-at-a-time when thegroup timer 514 finishes counting (expires) while the respective usershold the client device 102 or the task timer runs out of time while therespective users perform the task. The last user who remains in the gamewins the game.

In some examples, a second shared AR experience is selected from aplurality of shared AR experiences. The second shared AR experience thatis selected includes a collective storytelling experience. In this case,the shared AR experience allows a group of two or more users to create astory together, such as using a shared client device 102 that capturesimages of the users' feet. Namely, the shared client device 102 can beheld by one person but viewed by two or more people at the same time.

FIGS. 6A and 6B shows an example of a second shared device AR experience600. For example, as shown in FIG. 6A, a set of users (e.g., two or moreusers) can be in the same room. The set of users 690 are each looking atthe same single client device 692 (e.g., client device 102). Namely, oneuser of the set of users 690 can be holding the client device 102 whilethat user and other users in the set of users 690 are looking at theclient device 692.

As shown in FIG. 6B, an augmented reality element (also referred to asaugmented reality content item) option, such as a feet filter can beselected and activated on the client device 102. In response, the clientdevice 102 activates a feet filter by turning on a rear-facing camera ofthe client device 102. While the feet filter is activated, a screen 610is presented on the client device 102. When one of the two or moreusers' feet are detected in a video stream captured by rear-facingcamera of the client device 102, the client device 102 presents a screen620. The user can move their feet to change or move around one or moreaugmented reality elements (or content items) shown on the screen 630.When the user is satisfied with the positioning of the augmented realityelements, the user hands the client device 102 to a second user andpresses a next scene icon 622. The second user is presented with asecond set of augmented reality elements and when the second user's feetare detected in the rear-facing camera of the client device 102, thesecond set of augmented reality elements is modified based on the seconduser's feet. When all of the co-located users complete creating thestory together using their respective feet, a complete option can beselected to store the story on the client device 102. The story canautomatically be shared and sent to respective client devices 102 of theusers who created the story together.

In some examples, the feet filter is activated and presented in responseto detecting presence of feet 612 in a camera feed received from arear-facing camera of the client device 102. In response, a prompt isdisplayed asking the user to confirm activation of the feet filter andthe storytelling AR experience. In one example, the client device 102can present a first augmented reality puppet 632 on a first foot of thefeet in the video feed. The client device 102 can present a secondaugmented reality puppet 634 on a second foot of the feet in the videofeed. In some examples, the first foot can be a right foot of a firstuser and can appear in a left portion of the video feed. The second footcan be a left foot of a second user and can appear in a right portion ofthe video feed. Additional feet of other users can also be detected inthe video feed and replaced or overlaid with corresponding augmentedreality puppets.

The client device 102 presents a task (to complete an interaction) forthe various users to complete who are sharing the client device 102,such as by moving their respective feet. The client device 102 monitorsconcurrently actions of the two or more users in response to thepresented interaction. Each of the first and second users canindividually control and move the respective first and second augmentedreality puppets 632 and 634 by moving their respective feet to completethe task. Namely, the client device 102 detects individual movement ofthe feet of the users and individually moves the respective first andsecond augmented reality puppets 632 and 634 associated with theparticular foot for which movement was detected. For example, when theclient device 102 detects that the first foot was moved left while thesecond foot remains stationary, the client device 102 moves the firstaugmented reality puppet 632 left by the same degree and amount whilekeeping the second augmented reality puppet 634 stationary. The clientdevice 102 can present instructions with a specified task to complete.The task can be completed by moving the feet. After the specified taskis completed, the next scene icon 622 is selected which specifiesanother task to perform with the feet. In some cases, the task includestapping the feet together. In response to the client device 102detecting contact between two feet (e.g., a right foot making contactwith a left foot) in the video feed, an augmented reality effect, suchas a plurality or set of augmented reality elements are displayed andthe task is completed.

In some examples, the augmented reality puppets 632 and 634 representaugmented reality fish swimming in a body of water. In response to theclient device 102 detecting that a given gesture (e.g., pressing thefoot down or forward and away from the rear-facing camera) has beenperformed by a particular foot, the client device 102 moves theaugmented reality puppet 632 corresponding to the particular foot down.Namely, the augmented reality puppet 632 dives or descends when thegiven gesture is performed and ascends when an opposite gesture isdetected (e.g., the foot is detected as being pulled back towards therear-facing camera). In some cases, the augmented reality puppet can becontrolled by the foot to swim through other augmented reality elements(e.g., seaweed) to spread the augmented reality elements apart to reveala treasure or target. In some cases, the augmented reality puppets 632and 634 can interact with each other in response to detecting that thetwo feet have been tapped or touched each other.

In some examples, a third shared AR experience is selected from aplurality of shared AR experiences. The third shared AR experience thatis selected includes a sharing with pets experience. In this case, theshared AR experience allows a user to use the client device 102 to viewone or more augmented reality elements while walking their pet. An imageor video of the pet is captured by a rear-facing camera of the clientdevice 102.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a third shared device AR experience 700. Forexample, a first user interface 710 is presented in response to therear-facing camera of the client device 102 detecting a pet, such as adog, within a video stream captured by the rear-facing camera of theclient device 102. The first user interface 710 includes a timerindicating how much longer the user has left to complete the task ofwalking the pet as well as a current score. As the user walks the pet722, a second user interface 720 is presented that includes one or moreaugmented graphical elements 724. The one or more augmented realitygraphical elements 724 are presented to the user within a camera feed ofthe client device 102 that is capturing images of the pet 722 beingwalked. The user positions the pet 722 to walk over the augmentedreality graphical elements 724 and as the pet's image overlaps a givenone of the augmented reality graphical elements, the score is increased.

In some cases, a third user interface 730 is presented in which the usercalls the pet 722 and when the pet approaches the user, the goal is forthe pet to overlap positions of various augmented reality graphicalelements 732 (e.g., pet treats) that are presented. The pet 722 has tooverlap the graphical elements 732 within a certain period of time(e.g., a timer, or before a timer reaches a threshold). If, whilewalking to the user, the pet 722 overlaps a certain threshold number ofaugmented reality elements 732, a new augmented reality element 742 isselected and positioned as a reward over the pet 722, such as sunglassesshown in the fourth user interface 740. The user can instruct the clientdevice 102 to share an image of the user's pet with the score with oneor more other users on a social network.

In some examples, upon the client device 102 detecting a pet within avideo stream of the rear-facing camera, the client device 102automatically displays an augmented reality element, such as a treasurechest on the screen. The position of the pet is tracked on the screenand when the client device 102 detects that the pet position hasoverlapped the position of the augmented reality element, the augmentedreality element is animated to generate a plurality of additionalaugmented reality elements (e.g., coins are animated as coming out ofthe treasure chest). The position of the pet continues to be detectedand a score is incremented each time the position of the pet overlapsone of the additional augmented reality elements (e.g., the coins).

In some examples, a fourth shared AR experience is selected from aplurality of shared AR experiences. The fourth shared AR experience thatis selected includes a gathering around experience. In this case, theshared AR experience allows two client devices 102 to be synchronized bya marker and used to accomplish a common task.

FIG. 8A shows an example of a fourth shared device AR experience 802.Initially, a rotating or animated circle or marker 812 is presented on afirst client device 810 (e.g., a television). A second client device 820(e.g., a first mobile device) and a third client device 830 (e.g., asecond mobile device) are each aligned to capture an image of the maker812 that is presented on the first client device 810 using theirrespective rear-facing cameras. Each of the second and third clientdevices 102 needs to be aligned with the picture of the circle or marker812 that appears on the television (e.g., the first client device 102).Once each of the second and third client devices 102 positions thecircle or marker in the specified position on their respective displays,the devices are synchronized and work together to accomplish a commontask (e.g., the task shown in FIG. 8B). In response to the two devicesbeing synchronized with the marker 812, a common AR experience istriggered on the second and third client device 102. The marker 812turns into an animated timer by shrinking in size over time or gradually(slowly). When the marker 812 reaches a certain size or disappears fromview, the level or task is complete.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8B, after synchronizing the two clientdevices 102, the users are presented with a common augmented realityelement 840 on their respective devices over respective camera feeds ofthe devices. The users can move around their devices 102 to shoot orcapture a common augmented reality target 850 that appears in the camerafeeds of the respective devices 102. For example, the second clientdevice 102 can detect that an augmented reality weapon displayed by thesecond client device 102 fires an augmented reality bullet. The secondclient device 102 determines that the augmented reality bullet hits thecommon augmented reality target 850 and in response the second clientdevice 102 updates a common score associated with the second and thirdclient devices 102. In some cases, a common score is kept for thecurrent level. In some cases, each individual client devices 102 keepsan individual score of the number of augmented reality targets 850 thatwere captured or hit by the AR weapon of that device 102. At the end ofthe AR session or game, such as when a timer runs out or expires, thetwo devices 102 can share (manually or automatically using NFC) theirrespective individual scores to determine and select a winner betweenthe users of the client devices 102. Similarly, the third client device102 can detect that an augmented reality weapon displayed by the thirdclient device 102 fires an augmented reality bullet. The third clientdevice 102 determines that the augmented reality bullet hits the commonaugmented reality target 850 and in response the third client device 102updates a common score associated with the second and third clientdevices 102. The second client device 102 and the third client device102 displays augmented reality bullets fired by the augmented realityweapon displayed by the third client device 102. In the same way, thethird client device 102 and the second client device 102 displaysaugmented reality bullets fired by the augmented reality weapondisplayed by the second client device 102. This way, the first andsecond users can see the augmented reality bullets they each use theirrespective client device 102 to fire and control.

After the two or more people synchronize their respective devices usingthe common marker 812, the two or more users can access the same sharedAR experience 802. At the end of the shared AR experience 802, the twoor more users can get close to each other so that they can each see eachother's devices to compare their scores to determine who is the winner.In other cases, the respective devices of the two or more users exchangecommunications over a short range communications network, such as nearfield communications (NFC), and automatically determine and identifywhich device has the highest score to identify the winner of the sharedAR experience 802.

In some cases, the augmented reality target 850 includes an animal, suchas a cow that is on a planet represented by the marker 812. In suchcases, each of the respective devices displays an augmented reality UFOthat can be used to rescue or capture the augmented reality target 850(e.g., the animal or cow).

A new marker 812 is presented on the first client device 102 after thetimer for the current level runs out. The new marker 812 may be the sameor similar to the initially presented marker 812 but may be of adifferent size or color (e.g., to represent a different planet). Animage of the new marker 512 is similarly captured by the two clientdevices 102 to synchronize their AR experience and a new task ispresented for the users to complete together. The new marker 512similarly is animated as shrinking in size to indicate how much timeremains to complete the current task. When the new marker 512 iscaptured by the two client devices 102, a new set of augmented realitytargets 850 are presented (e.g., a different animal or breed of animals)that need to be captured by augmented reality UFOs or weapons displayedby the respective client devices 102.

In some examples, a fifth shared AR experience is selected from aplurality of shared AR experiences. The fifth shared AR experience thatis selected includes a whole body augmented reality experience. FIGS. 9Aand 9B show an example of the fifth shared device AR experience 900,according to some examples. For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, a set ofusers (e.g., two or more users) are each holding respective clientdevices 102 and are within a specified proximity of each other (e.g.,are in the same room or within less than 25 feet of each other). Theusers are positioned far enough from each other that their respectivecameras of their respective client devices 102 can capture images ofeach other. The set of users point their client devices 102 at eachother and activate the same shared AR experience 900 in which therespective rear-facing cameras capture images of the users on theopposing side.

As shown in FIG. 9B, for example, a first user can use a first clientdevice 102 to capture an image or video feed of a second user. When thefirst client device 102 detects that a whole body 910 of the second userappears in the video feed, the first client device 102 activates thewhole body augmented reality experience. The first client device 102receives input from the first user, such as by detecting that the firstuser taps on a display that presents the whole body 910 of the seconduser. In response to receiving the input, the client device 102 launchesan augmented reality element 920 (e.g., an augmented reality snowball)towards the direction of the second user. The launched augmented realityelement lands on the second user and remains overlaid at a positionwhere the augmented reality element hits the second user's body. A timer912 is presented showing the first user how much time remains for inputto be received from the first user to launch augmented reality elements920 at the second user. The goal is to completely cover the second userwith augmented reality elements 920. When the whole body 910 is coveredby the augmented reality elements 920 that are launched respectivelyeach time input from the first user is received, the game ends. Upondetermining that the whole body 910 has been covered by the augmentedreality elements 920, the user's body is turned into an augmentedreality item (e.g., an augmented reality snowman).

In some cases, while the first user is using the first client device 102to launch augmented reality elements 920 at the second user, the seconduser can use a second client device 102 to capture an image or videofeed of the first user. When the second client device 102 detects that awhole body 910 of the first user appears in the video feed, the secondclient device 102 activates the whole body augmented reality experience.The second client device 102 receives input from the second user, suchas by detecting that the second user taps on a display that presents thewhole body 910 of the first user. In response to receiving the input,the client device 102 launches an augmented reality element 920 (e.g.,an augmented reality snowball) towards the direction of the first user.The launched augmented reality element lands on the first user andremains overlaid at a position where the augmented reality element hitsthe first user's body. A timer 912 is presented showing the second userhow much time remains for input to be received from the second user tolaunch augmented reality elements 920 at the first user. In some cases,the timer 912 is the same and is synchronized between the first andsecond client device 102 in order to allow the first and second users tolaunch the augmented reality elements at each other in the same periodof time.

The goal is for the two users to completely each other with augmentedreality elements 920. Whichever one of the first and second users issuccessful in covering the whole body of the other user, is declared thewinner of the game. Specifically, upon the first client device 102detecting that the first user has completed covering the body of thesecond user with the augmented reality elements 920, the first clientdevice 102 sends a message to the second client device 102 indicatingthat the first user has completed the game. Upon receiving the messagefrom the first client device 102, the second client device 102determines that the first user has not been completely covered by theaugmented reality elements in the display of the second client device102. In such circumstances, the first and second client devices 102determine and declare the first user as the winner of the game.

In some examples, at the end of the timer 912, each of the first andsecond client device 102 compute how much percentage wise of the body ofthe users have been covered by the augmented reality elements 920.Specifically, the first client device 102 computes what percentage ofthe body of the second user has been covered by the augmented realityelements 920 to determine a score for the first user of the first clientdevice 102. The second client device 102 computes what percentage of thebody of the first user has been covered by the augmented realityelements 920 to determine a score for the second user of the secondclient device 102. In one example, the client devices 102 communicatethese percentages to each other, such as over NFC or other short-rangecommunications network. In response to determining that a greaterpercentage of the body of the second user has been covered by theaugmented reality elements than the percentage of the first user, theclient device 102 declare the first user as the winner. As an example,the first client device 102 receives a message from the second clientdevice 102 indicating a percentage of the body of the first user thathas been covered by the augmented reality elements. The first clientdevice 102 computes the percentage of the body of the second user thathas been covered by the augmented reality elements and compares thepercentage of the first user that has been covered by the augmentedreality elements received in the message from the second client device102 with the percentage computed by the first client device 102. Inresponse to determining that the computed percentage exceeds thepercentage received in the message, the first client device 102indicates that the first user has won the game.

In some examples, at the end of the shared AR experience 900 (e.g., atthe end of the timer 912), the two or more users of the first and secondclient devices 102 can get close to each other so that they can each seeeach other's first and second client devices 102 to compare their scoresto determine who is the winner. In other cases, the respective first andsecond client devices 102 of the two or more users exchangecommunications over a short range communications network, such as nearfield communications (NFC), and automatically determine and identifywhich device has the highest score to identify the winner of the sharedAR experience 900.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a process 1000 for a shared AR session, inaccordance with some example examples. Although the flowcharts candescribe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operationscan be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order ofthe operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when itsoperations are completed. A process may correspond to a method, aprocedure, and the like. The steps of methods may be performed in wholeor in part, may be performed in conjunction with some or all of thesteps in other methods, and may be performed by any number of differentsystems or any portion thereof, such as a processor included in any ofthe systems.

At operation 1001, a client device 102 receives input that selects ashared augmented reality (AR) experience from a plurality of shared ARexperiences. For example, as discussed above, the client device 102presents a plurality of shared AR experiences and receives inputselecting a given one of the shared AR experiences.

At operation 1002, the client device 102 in response to receiving theinput, determines one or more resources associated with the selectedshared AR experience. For example, the client device 102 activates arear-facing camera and a pet detection or feet detection process inresponse to determining that a first shared AR experience was selected.As another example, the client device 102 activates a front-facingcamera and a face detection process in response to determining that asecond shared AR experience was selected.

At operation 1003, the client device 102 determines that two or moreusers are located within a threshold proximity of the client device 102.For example, the client device 102 can receive input indicating who theusers are in the room along with images of their faces, the clientdevice 102 can determine that two feet are present in a video feed todetermine that two or more users are located within the thresholdproximity, a same marker or object is captured by cameras of differentclient devices 102, or the client devices 102 can communicate withanother client device 102 using short range communication to determinethat the other client device 102 is within the threshold proximity.

At operation 1004, the client device 102 activates the selected sharedAR experience in response to determining that the two or more users arelocated within the threshold proximity of the client device, asdiscussed above.

Machine Architecture

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic representation of the machine 1100 withinwhich instructions 1108 (e.g., software, a program, an application, anapplet, an app, or other executable code) for causing the machine 1100to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein may beexecuted. For example, the instructions 1108 may cause the machine 1100to execute any one or more of the methods described herein. Theinstructions 1108 transform the general, non-programmed machine 1100into a particular machine 1100 programmed to carry out the described andillustrated functions in the manner described. The machine 1100 mayoperate as a standalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) toother machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 1100 may operatein the capacity of a server machine or a client machine in aserver-client network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine 1100 maycomprise, but not be limited to, a server computer, a client computer, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook,a set-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), anentertainment media system, a cellular telephone, a smartphone, a mobiledevice, a wearable device (e.g., a smartwatch), a smart home device(e.g., a smart appliance), other smart devices, a web appliance, anetwork router, a network switch, a network bridge, or any machinecapable of executing the instructions 1108, sequentially or otherwise,that specify actions to be taken by the machine 1100. Further, whileonly a single machine 1100 is illustrated, the term “machine” shall alsobe taken to include a collection of machines that individually orjointly execute the instructions 1108 to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein. The machine 1100, for example, maycomprise the client device 102 or any one of a number of server devicesforming part of the messaging server system 108. In some examples, themachine 1100 may also comprise both client and server systems, withcertain operations of a particular method or algorithm being performedon the server-side and with certain operations of the particular methodor algorithm being performed on the client-side.

The machine 1100 may include processors 1102, memory 1104, andinput/output (I/O) components 1138, which may be configured tocommunicate with each other via a bus 1140. In an example, theprocessors 1102 (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a ReducedInstruction Set Computing (RISC) Processor, a Complex Instruction SetComputing (CISC) Processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a DigitalSignal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC), a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor,or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, aprocessor 1106 and a processor 1110 that execute the instructions 1108.The term “processor” is intended to include multi-core processors thatmay comprise two or more independent processors (sometimes referred toas “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously. AlthoughFIG. 11 shows multiple processors 1102, the machine 1100 may include asingle processor with a single-core, a single processor with multiplecores (e.g., a multi-core processor), multiple processors with a singlecore, multiple processors with multiples cores, or any combinationthereof.

The memory 1104 includes a main memory 1112, a static memory 1114, and astorage unit 1116, all accessible to the processors 1102 via the bus1140. The main memory 1104, the static memory 1114, and the storage unit1116 store the instructions 1108 embodying any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 1108 mayalso reside, completely or partially, within the main memory 1112,within the static memory 1114, within machine-readable medium 1118within the storage unit 1116, within at least one of the processors 1102(e.g., within the processor's cache memory), or any suitable combinationthereof, during execution thereof by the machine 1100.

The I/O components 1138 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/Ocomponents 1138 that are included in a particular machine will depend onthe type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobilephones may include a touch input device or other such input mechanisms,while a headless server machine will likely not include such a touchinput device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 1138 mayinclude many other components that are not shown in FIG. 11 . In variousexamples, the I/O components 1138 may include user output components1124 and user input components 1126. The user output components 1124 mayinclude visual components (e.g., a display such as a plasma displaypanel (PDP), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), acousticcomponents (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., a vibratory motor,resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and so forth. The userinput components 1126 may include alphanumeric input components (e.g., akeyboard, a touch screen configured to receive alphanumeric input, aphoto-optical keyboard, or other alphanumeric input components),point-based input components (e.g., a mouse, a touchpad, a trackball, ajoystick, a motion sensor, or another pointing instrument), tactileinput components (e.g., a physical button, a touch screen that provideslocation and force of touches or touch gestures, or other tactile inputcomponents), audio input components (e.g., a microphone), and the like.

In further examples, the I/O components 1138 may include biometriccomponents 1128, motion components 1130, environmental components 1132,or position components 1134, among a wide array of other components. Forexample, the biometric components 1128 include components to detectexpressions (e.g., hand expressions, facial expressions, vocalexpressions, body gestures, or eye-tracking), measure biosignals (e.g.,blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, perspiration, or brainwaves), identify a person (e.g., voice identification, retinalidentification, facial identification, fingerprint identification, orelectroencephalogram-based identification), and the like. The motioncomponents 1130 include acceleration sensor components (e.g.,accelerometer), gravitation sensor components, rotation sensorcomponents (e.g., gyroscope).

The environmental components 1132 include, for example, one or cameras(with still image/photograph and video capabilities), illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometers that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gasdetection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases forsafety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other componentsthat may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding toa surrounding physical environment.

With respect to cameras, the client device 102 may have a camera systemcomprising, for example, front cameras on a front surface of the clientdevice 102 and rear cameras on a rear surface of the client device 102.The front cameras may, for example, be used to capture still images andvideo of a user of the client device 102 (e.g., “selfies”), which maythen be augmented with augmentation data (e.g., filters) describedabove. The rear cameras may, for example, be used to capture stillimages and videos in a more traditional camera mode, with these imagessimilarly being augmented with augmentation data. In addition to frontand rear cameras, the client device 102 may also include a 360° camerafor capturing 360° photographs and videos.

Further, the camera system of a client device 102 may include dual rearcameras (e.g., a primary camera as well as a depth-sensing camera), oreven triple, quad or penta rear camera configurations on the front andrear sides of the client device 102. These multiple cameras systems mayinclude a wide camera, an ultra-wide camera, a telephoto camera, a macrocamera, and a depth sensor, for example.

The position components 1134 include location sensor components (e.g., aGPS receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters orbarometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 1138 further include communication components 1136operable to couple the machine 1100 to a network 1120 or devices 1122via respective coupling or connections. For example, the communicationcomponents 1136 may include a network interface component or anothersuitable device to interface with the network 1120. In further examples,the communication components 1136 may include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and othercommunication components to provide communication via other modalities.The devices 1122 may be another machine or any of a wide variety ofperipheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a USB).

Moreover, the communication components 1136 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 1136 may include Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components1136, such as location via Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation, locationvia Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting an NFC beaconsignal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

The various memories (e.g., main memory 1112, static memory 1114, andmemory of the processors 1102) and storage unit 1116 may store one ormore sets of instructions and data structures (e.g., software) embodyingor used by any one or more of the methodologies or functions describedherein. These instructions (e.g., the instructions 1108), when executedby processors 1102, cause various operations to implement the disclosedexamples.

The instructions 1108 may be transmitted or received over the network1120, using a transmission medium, via a network interface device (e.g.,a network interface component included in the communication components1136) and using any one of several well-known transfer protocols (e.g.,hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)). Similarly, the instructions 1108may be transmitted or received using a transmission medium via acoupling (e.g., a peer-to-peer coupling) to the devices 1122.

Software Architecture

FIG. 12 is a block diagram 1200 illustrating a software architecture1204, which can be installed on any one or more of the devices describedherein. The software architecture 1204 is supported by hardware such asa machine 1202 that includes processors 1220, memory 1226, and I/Ocomponents 1238. In this example, the software architecture 1204 can beconceptualized as a stack of layers, where each layer provides aparticular functionality. The software architecture 1204 includes layerssuch as an operating system 1212, libraries 1210, frameworks 1208, andapplications 1206. Operationally, the applications 1206 invoke API calls1250 through the software stack and receive messages 1252 in response tothe API calls 1250.

The operating system 1212 manages hardware resources and provides commonservices. The operating system 1212 includes, for example, a kernel1214, services 1216, and drivers 1222. The kernel 1214 acts as anabstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers.For example, the kernel 1214 provides memory management, processormanagement (e.g., scheduling), component management, networking, andsecurity settings, among other functionality. The services 1216 canprovide other common services for the other software layers. The drivers1222 are responsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlyinghardware. For instance, the drivers 1222 can include display drivers,camera drivers, BLUETOOTH® or BLUETOOTH® Low Energy drivers, flashmemory drivers, serial communication drivers (e.g., USB drivers), WI-FI®drivers, audio drivers, power management drivers, and so forth.

The libraries 1210 provide a common low-level infrastructure used by theapplications 1206. The libraries 1210 can include system libraries 1218(e.g., C standard library) that provide functions such as memoryallocation functions, string manipulation functions, mathematicfunctions, and the like. In addition, the libraries 1210 can include APIlibraries 1224 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries to supportpresentation and manipulation of various media formats such as MovingPicture Experts Group-4 (MPEG4), Advanced Video Coding (H.264 or AVC),Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC),Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) audio codec, Joint Photographic Experts Group(JPEG or JPG), or Portable Network Graphics (PNG)), graphics libraries(e.g., an OpenGL framework used to render in two dimensions (2D) andthree dimensions (3D) in a graphic content on a display), databaselibraries (e.g., SQLite to provide various relational databasefunctions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit to provide web browsingfunctionality), and the like. The libraries 1210 can also include a widevariety of other libraries 1228 to provide many other APIs to theapplications 1206.

The frameworks 1208 provide a common high-level infrastructure that isused by the applications 1206. For example, the frameworks 1208 providevarious graphical user interface (GUI) functions, high-level resourcemanagement, and high-level location services. The frameworks 1208 canprovide a broad spectrum of other APIs that can be used by theapplications 1206, some of which may be specific to a particularoperating system or platform.

In an example, the applications 1206 may include a home application1236, a contacts application 1230, a browser application 1232, a bookreader application 1234, a location application 1242, a mediaapplication 1244, a messaging application 1246, a game application 1248,and a broad assortment of other applications such as a externalapplication 1240. The applications 1206 are programs that executefunctions defined in the programs. Various programming languages can beemployed to create one or more of the applications 1206, structured in avariety of manners, such as object-oriented programming languages (e.g.,Objective-C, Java, or C++) or procedural programming languages (e.g., Cor assembly language). In a specific example, the external application1240 (e.g., an application developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ softwaredevelopment kit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of theparticular platform) may be mobile software running on a mobileoperating system such as IOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or anothermobile operating system. In this example, the external application 1240can invoke the API calls 1250 provided by the operating system 1212 tofacilitate functionality described herein.

Glossary

“Carrier signal” refers to any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by themachine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible media to facilitate communication of such instructions.Instructions may be transmitted or received over a network using atransmission medium via a network interface device.

“Client device” refers to any machine that interfaces to acommunications network to obtain resources from one or more serversystems or other client devices. A client device may be, but is notlimited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digitalassistants (PDAs), smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks, netbooks, laptops,multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any other communicationdevice that a user may use to access a network.

“Communication network” refers to one or more portions of a network thatmay be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), the Internet, a portion of the Internet, a portion of the PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), a plain old telephone service (POTS)network, a cellular telephone network, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi®network, another type of network, or a combination of two or more suchnetworks. For example, a network or a portion of a network may include awireless or cellular network and the coupling may be a Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA) connection, a Global System for Mobilecommunications (GSM) connection, or other types of cellular or wirelesscoupling. In this example, the coupling may implement any of a varietyof types of data transfer technology, such as Single Carrier RadioTransmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO)technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology, EnhancedData rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology, third GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourth generation wireless (4G)networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High SpeedPacket Access (HSPA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, others defined by variousstandard-setting organizations, other long-range protocols, or otherdata transfer technology.

“Component” refers to a device, physical entity, or logic havingboundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branch points, APIs,or other technologies that provide for the partitioning ormodularization of particular processing or control functions. Componentsmay be combined via their interfaces with other components to carry outa machine process. A component may be a packaged functional hardwareunit designed for use with other components and a part of a program thatusually performs a particular function of related functions.

Components may constitute either software components (e.g., codeembodied on a machine-readable medium) or hardware components. A“hardware component” is a tangible unit capable of performing certainoperations and may be configured or arranged in a certain physicalmanner. In various examples, one or more computer systems (e.g., astandalone computer system, a client computer system, or a servercomputer system) or one or more hardware components of a computer system(e.g., a processor or a group of processors) may be configured bysoftware (e.g., an application or application portion) as a hardwarecomponent that operates to perform certain operations as describedherein.

A hardware component may also be implemented mechanically,electronically, or any suitable combination thereof. For example, ahardware component may include dedicated circuitry or logic that ispermanently configured to perform certain operations. A hardwarecomponent may be a special-purpose processor, such as afield-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may also includeprogrammable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configured bysoftware to perform certain operations. For example, a hardwarecomponent may include software executed by a general-purpose processoror other programmable processor. Once configured by such software,hardware components become specific machines (or specific components ofa machine) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and areno longer general-purpose processors. It will be appreciated that thedecision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicatedand permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configuredcircuitry (e.g., configured by software), may be driven by cost and timeconsiderations. Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component” (or“hardware-implemented component”) should be understood to encompass atangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured(e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certainoperations described herein.

Considering examples in which hardware components are temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed), each of the hardware components need notbe configured or instantiated at any one instance in time. For example,where a hardware component comprises a general-purpose processorconfigured by software to become a special-purpose processor, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respectively differentspecial-purpose processors (e.g., comprising different hardwarecomponents) at different times. Software accordingly configures aparticular processor or processors, for example, to constitute aparticular hardware component at one instance of time and to constitutea different hardware component at a different instance of time.

Hardware components can provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware components. Accordingly, the described hardwarecomponents may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Wheremultiple hardware components exist contemporaneously, communications maybe achieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) between or among two or more of the hardware components. Inexamples in which multiple hardware components are configured orinstantiated at different times, communications between such hardwarecomponents may be achieved, for example, through the storage andretrieval of information in memory structures to which the multiplehardware components have access. For example, one hardware component mayperform an operation and store the output of that operation in a memorydevice to which it is communicatively coupled. A further hardwarecomponent may then, at a later time, access the memory device toretrieve and process the stored output. Hardware components may alsoinitiate communications with input or output devices, and can operate ona resource (e.g., a collection of information).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implementedcomponents that operate to perform one or more operations or functionsdescribed herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component”refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors.Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors 1102 orprocessor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processorsmay also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a“cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS).For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), with theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an API). The performance ofcertain of the operations may be distributed among the processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some examples, the processors or processor-implementedcomponents may be located in a single geographic location (e.g., withina home environment, an office environment, or a server farm). In otherexamples, the processors or processor-implemented components may bedistributed across a number of geographic locations.

“Computer-readable storage medium” refers to both machine-storage mediaand transmission media. Thus, the terms include both storagedevices/media and carrier waves/modulated data signals. The terms“machine-readable medium,” “computer-readable medium” and“device-readable medium” mean the same thing and may be usedinterchangeably in this disclosure.

“Ephemeral message” refers to a message that is accessible for atime-limited duration. An ephemeral message may be a text, an image, avideo and the like. The access time for the ephemeral message may be setby the message sender. Alternatively, the access time may be a defaultsetting or a setting specified by the recipient. Regardless of thesetting technique, the message is transitory.

“Machine storage medium” refers to a single or multiple storage devicesand media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and associatedcaches and servers) that store executable instructions, routines anddata. The term shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limitedto, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media, includingmemory internal or external to processors. Specific examples ofmachine-storage media, computer-storage media and device-storage mediainclude non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductormemory devices, e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), FPGA, andflash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks andremovable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks Theterms “machine-storage medium,” “device-storage medium,”“computer-storage medium” mean the same thing and may be usedinterchangeably in this disclosure. The terms “machine-storage media,”“computer-storage media,” and “device-storage media” specificallyexclude carrier waves, modulated data signals, and other such media, atleast some of which are covered under the term “signal medium.”

“Non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” refers to a tangiblemedium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying theinstructions for execution by a machine.

“Signal medium” refers to any intangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding, or carrying the instructions for execution by amachine and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible media to facilitate communication of software or data. Theterm “signal medium” shall be taken to include any form of a modulateddata signal, carrier wave, and so forth. The term “modulated datasignal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics setor changed in such a matter as to encode information in the signal. Theterms “transmission medium” and “signal medium” mean the same thing andmay be used interchangeably in this disclosure.

Changes and modifications may be made to the disclosed examples withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. These and otherchanges or modifications are intended to be included within the scope ofthe present disclosure, as expressed in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a clientdevice, input that selects a shared augmented reality (AR) experiencefrom a plurality of shared AR experiences, the selected shared ARexperience being configured to be operated independently of a server;accessing a video feed captured in real-time by a camera of the clientdevice during a selected AR experience; detecting, in the selectedshared AR experience, a presence of a real-world animal visible in thecaptured video feed; displaying, in the selected shared AR experience, aplurality of first AR elements in the video feed together with thereal-world animal; in response to detecting a visual overlapping of athreshold number of the displayed plurality of AR elements based onmovement of the real-world animal visible in the captured video feed,incrementing a score viewable in a UI of the client device; andpositioning a second AR element as a virtual reward for the real-worldanimal in association with the detected real-world animal based on theincremented score.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:displaying, by the client device, a user interface comprising a tasktimer, the task timer representing an amount of time remaining for agiven user of the users to complete an assigned task.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, wherein: the task timer indicates how much longer the user hasleft to complete a task of walking the real-world animal as well as acurrent score.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected shared ARexperience comprises a shared device AR experience that is accessedone-at-a-time by each of two or more users on a same shared clientdevice.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the client device is a firstclient device, and further comprising: synchronizing the shared ARexperience between the first client device and a second client device;wherein a marker in a physical environment of the first and secondclient devices is also displayed on a third client device, the markerrepresenting a value of a group timer; and in response to both thesecond and the third client devices detecting the marker, initiating theselected shared AR experience concurrently on the first and secondclient devices.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providingaccess to a second shared AR experience, the second shared AR experiencebeing configured to perform operations comprising: receiving a videofeed from a camera of the client device; detecting presence ofreal-world feet within the video feed captured by the camera; andpresenting a story on the client device in response to detectingpresence of the real-world feet within the video feed.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, further comprising: presenting a first AR puppet on a firstfoot to replace a depiction of the first foot in the video feed with adepiction of the first AR puppet; controlling the first AR puppet basedon detecting movement of the first foot; and controlling a second ARpuppet based on detecting movement of a second foot.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising: detecting contact between the first footand the second foot indicating tapping of the feet together; and inresponse to detecting contact between the first foot and the secondfoot, presenting an AR effect.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising providing access to a second shared AR experience, the secondshared AR experience being configured to perform operations comprising:detecting presence of a whole body of a user of two or more users withina video feed captured by the client device; receiving input that taps ascreen of the client device at a position at which a portion of thewhole body of the user is presented; overlaying a first AR element onthe video feed at the position in response to receiving input that tapsthe screen of the client device; and ending the AR experience inresponse to determining that the whole body of the user has beenoverlaid by a plurality of AR elements.
 10. A system comprising: aprocessor; and a memory component having instructions stored thereon,when executed by the processor, causes the processor to performoperations comprising: receiving, by a client device, input that selectsa shared augmented reality (AR) experience from a plurality of shared ARexperiences, the selected shared AR experience being configured to beoperated independently of a server; accessing a video feed captured inreal-time by a camera of the client device during a selected ARexperience; detecting, in the selected shared AR experience, a presenceof a real-world animal within the captured video feed; displaying, inthe selected shared AR experience, a plurality of first AR elements inthe video feed together with the real-world animal; in response todetecting a visual overlapping of a threshold number of the displayedplurality of AR elements based on movement of the real-world animalvisible in the captured video feed, incrementing a score viewable in aUI of the client device; and positioning a second AR element as avirtual reward for the real-world animal in association with thedetected real-world animal based on the incremented score.
 11. Thesystem of claim 10, the operations further comprising: displaying, bythe client device, a user interface comprising a task timer, the tasktimer representing an amount of time remaining for a given user of theusers to complete an assigned task.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein:the task timer indicates how much longer the user has left to complete atask of walking the real-world animal as well as a current score. 13.The system of claim 10, wherein the selected shared AR experiencecomprises a shared device AR experience that is accessed one-at-a-timeby each of two or more users on a same shared client device.
 14. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon,instructions when executed by a processor, causes the processor toperform operations comprising: receiving, by a client device, input thatselects a shared augmented reality (AR) experience from a plurality ofshared AR experiences, the selected shared AR experience beingconfigured to be operated independently of a server; accessing a videofeed captured in real-time by a camera of the client device during aselected AR experience; detecting, in the selected shared AR experience,a presence of a real-world animal within the captured video feed;displaying, in the selected shared AR experience, a plurality of firstAR elements in the video feed together with the real-world animal; inresponse to detecting a visual overlapping of a threshold number of thedisplayed plurality of AR elements based on movement of the real-worldanimal visible in the captured video feed, incrementing a score viewablein a UI of the client device; and positioning a second AR element as avirtual reward for the real-world animal in association with thedetected real-world animal based on the incremented score.